


Suspended Men

by D_Human23



Category: Sweater Weather - Fandom
Genre: A little angst, Fake books we wished existed, Finnish swears, Fluff, Hijinks & Shenanigans, M/M, Olli being way too cute, Playing Hangman, Slightly tipsy boys, Timmy being a good "friend", Trapped In Elevator, hints of the past
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:20:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26306227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/D_Human23/pseuds/D_Human23
Summary: Déjà vu is a fairly common happenstance amongst human experience; from freezing in the middle of an action one wonders why this feels so familiar to being caught in an eerily similar situation down to the minuscule details. For Timmy and Olli it took place in a hotel elevator after a hard loss.Or Olli and Timmy get trapped in an elevator againBased on this Witterprompts prompt: “Is this the second time we’ve both gotten stuck in the same elevator?”
Relationships: Olli Halla/Timmy Jones
Comments: 6
Kudos: 21





	Suspended Men

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Sweater Weather](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20750912) by [lumosinlove](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lumosinlove/pseuds/lumosinlove). 



Déjà vu is a fairly common happenstance amongst human experience; from freezing in the middle of an action one wonders why this feels so familiar to being caught in an eerily similar situation down to the minuscule details. For Timmy and Olli it took place in a hotel elevator after a hard loss.

The two had been down at the hotel bar having a drink in an attempt to lift their spirits. It had worked fairly well as they made the tipsy journey back to their room singing Whatcha Say a little too loudly. Normally Olli wouldn’t be the type to sing loudly while wandering around a hotel in the dead of night, but with Timmy’s encouragement and a lack of inhibitions, here he was. They finally managed to find an elevator after about 15 minutes, since stairs were probably not a good idea when they were a little more on the stumbling side of walking. 

Timmy pressed the arrow pointed up and pulled out his phone as he slung an arm around Olli’s shoulder. “Let’s take a picture. We gotta show the fans a loss won’t take us down.” 

As usual Olli protested and put his hands over his face, though his muffled speech was in Finnish, so Timmy had no clue what he was saying outside of a few common words he’d picked up over the years. This was a constant on Timmy’s Instagram; Olli covering his face whenever he tried to pull him in for a picture or if he wasn’t sneaky enough to catch him in the moment of whatever he was doing. It was impossibly cute, which was how Olli Halla could be described in a nutshell. 

When the elevator reached them the two stepped inside and Timmy pressed the floor number both of their rooms were on. He looked over the photo with a small smile. The moment he’d taken it Olli had spaced his fingers so he could peek and was looking right at Timmy. Timmy knew those eyes too well and could tell underneath his hands he was definitely smiling. At the end of the day Olli might have been shy but he slightly enjoyed that people wanted to pay him attention, which is why Timmy continued to include him in pictures. 

Just as he was getting ready to post it, the elevator jostled for a terrifying moment and then stopped completely. It took him a moment to process what was happening. The doors weren’t opening and they were not on their floor, which meant it was probably stuck.

“Oi paska…” Olli looked at the door, his face wide eyed and full of dread as he moved to press their floor button repeatedly. “Paska. Paska. Paska. Not again!”

Timmy put his hands gently on his arm to urge him to stop and hopefully calm down. “It’s okay. I’ll take care of this. You got your bag. Sit tight for a bit and read or something, okay?” He was still a little hazy from the alcohol but the scare had done a lot to sober him and the fact Olli needed him always made him more serious.

For a moment Olli looked like he was going to argue, but instead he brought the hand that had been pushing the button up to scrub over his face. “Okay. Okay, Timms.” He squeezed Timmy’s shoulder in appreciation and went to the back of the elevator to sit against the wall. Timmy watched him for a moment as he shifted his ratty messenger bag he’d had since college and pulled out some ancient sci-fi novel. It always amused Timmy how such a baby-faced person surrounded himself with old things.

First, Timmy pressed a few buttons he read sometimes helped to get an elevator unstuck. Door open, door close, and then the floor below them. None of them seemed to do the trick so he sighed and pressed the emergency call button he was all too familiar with and waited for someone to pipe up over the built-in call system. Last year, they got stuck in an elevator just the two of them in the same exact hotel after losing a game quite similar to this one. “Déjà vu,” he mumbled to himself as he shook his head.

Though last year had been much more difficult since they were both absolutely trashed and Olli had had a full blown panic attack. Now at least Timmy was able to mostly think straight and seemed to have stopped Olli from spiraling. It took almost an hour last time, so as long as someone answered it probably would take about the same amount of time.

He pushed the button a second time and almost immediately got an answer from the maintenance man. The guy had just gotten out of the bathroom, which is why he missed the first alarm. Once he did some checking around on his end, he informed Timmy he’d have to call a technician so they’d probably be out in about an hour, hopefully. Timmy thanked him and walked over to sit next to Olli knowing there was nothing else that could be done on their end.

“I texted Elias and Finn to let them know where we are. No reply. Probably asleep.” Olli sighed and let his head fall back against the elevator wall with a thunk. “Helvetin kuustoista.”

Timmy patted his knee and picked up the book he had put face down on the floor to check out what this one was about. “We’ll be out soon Olls, don’t worry. You’ll be tucked in bed reading about robots that are trying to destroy gender roles…” He was bewildered by the concept behind what sounded like either a really ridiculous or somewhat empowering novel.

“It’s really good. Way ahead of its time. Also very thrilling. I’m halfway through and I have no clue how it’s going to end.” Olli smiled as he took the book from Timmy who had an expression on his face that said he was definitely impressed. Any time there was some sort of mystery element to something, Olli figured out most of it almost right away; it made watching movies together interesting and kind of hilarious. Some people would hate it, but Timmy found it so cool when he was spot on in the end. 

“I might have to borrow that when you’re done.” Timmy didn’t consider himself into the kind of books Olli liked until he moved in and introduced him to all sorts of things. Most of the sci-fi or fantasy Timmy had come across over the years seemed so bland, which felt horribly ironic, but Olli had a knack for finding obscure narratives that turned the generic on its head.

They spent about twenty minutes doing their own thing with the quiet comment here and there. Timmy was posting a few silly tweets about the elevator incident when he heard Olli put down his book with a muttered, “Skeida.”

“What?”

“I told my äiti I’d call her if I was up, but you know how she’ll get about this.” Olli looked torn and Timmy understood why. His mother was the type to make a very big fuss over small things that worried her and Olli did not like to lie under any circumstance; it made him unbelievably guilty. Even little white lies seemed to twist him all up with his nerves.

“You could tell her you were busy. It’s not a lie… Especially if I insist on distracting you.” Timmy grabbed Olli’s bag and rummaged through it to find a notebook and pen. He knew what would be in there just like he knew Olli wouldn’t mind him going through it without asking. They’d lived together for nearly five years now, so the two understood each other on levels most never could.

“What are we busy with? It must be believable for us. I already hate kind of bullshitting mami.” 

“Hangman.”

“Oh. Yeah, that works.” Olli nodded and sat up a bit as Timmy set up the first word for him. They did this all the time where there was absolutely nothing else to do. It had become a habit of theirs after Olli randomly started a game when they were new to each other and bored on the bus to some away game. When he was in college it was one of the many small things Olli did to get better with his English so he didn’t have any issues communicating with his teammates or any of the people he’d end up working with.

Once it all had been drawn out, Timmy placed the notebook between them and Olli inspected the neat, slanted handwriting thoughtfully. “One word. Six letters. Hmmm, E?”

Timmy wrote down an E in the fourth space which made Olli raise a fist in excitement with a bright smile beaming on his face.

“O!” That was one of Timmy’s favorite letters with Olli’s accent. It sounded like it took on a new meaning of round with how it stood out among the other letters. With a chuckle he scribbled an O in the fifth space and watched Olli’s face go confused by this placement. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. I know this word quite well.” Timmy ruffled Olli’s hair which he half-heartedly ducked out of as he contemplated the paper in front of him. 

“I?” It came out in a very unsure tone and was met by even more confusion when Timmy placed an I in the second space. “Paskan marjat!” Olli scrunched up his face in the way he always did when he was frustrated with you, but over something inconsequential like hangman.

“I am not lying!” Timmy’s plea of the truth was only met with suspiciously, narrowed eyes. “Hand to God, Olls. Guess more letters. You’re so smart. You’ll get it.” Whenever they needed to know they could trust each other over something they said ‘Hand to God’. Mainly because Olli was the religious type and Timmy made it clear even though he was a spiritual agnostic, he absolutely respected what his friend believed in. 

With a sigh Olli softened and looked at the paper again for a moment as he rubbed his hand over his mouth. It was something he did when he was thinking hard about words like he could maybe pull them right out with his fingers. “R?”

A full upside down stickman later, there was nothing left to draw except the rope that in their version went around his leg. Timmy wasn’t exactly a fan of being reminded of that kind of death and when Olli learned of the fact early on he was more than happy to change to something less cruel. Now Olli had to guess two more letters without getting them wrong and he was completely lost.

“I don’t think I know this word Timmy. I only got the N at the end. There’s two more letters and it doesn’t make sense.”

“You do know this word. Trust me. I say it all the time, so does Pots and a few of our other teammates.”

Olli looked down at the paper as his hand went over his mouth once again. After a moment he asked softly, “When do you say it?”

This caused Timmy to give a small smile because he was pretty sure with the answer to that question Olli would get it. “On the ice. Especially with a team like the Blackhawks or the Snakes.”

In a flash Olli went from contemplative to realization as the word finally struck him over the head loud and clear like a church bell.

“PIGEON!” Timmy nodded at him enthusiastically as he shouted a few celebratory phrases in Finnish. 

“I told you you’d get it.” He clapped a hand on the side of Olli’s neck as the two grinned at each other. There was a shift in the energy for a moment and Timmy couldn’t help but notice Olli’s eyes looking down at his lips as he bit his own bottom one. Then it seemed something behind Timmy caught his attention as he narrowed his eyes like he was trying to read something. 

Another look of realization hit him as he muttered, “Helvetin kuustoista.” Curiosity over what had Olli so shocked caused him to remove his hand and finally turn around. There behind him were the letters TKO carved into the elevator wall so small and low you would only notice if you were sitting on the ground like they were. Something that had been done by a very drunk Timmy about a year ago.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. Is this the second time we’ve both gotten stuck in the same elevator?” The question was more to the universe than to anyone inside of the elevator. He looked back at Olli who was slack jawed with his eyebrows knitted in concern.

“This is a sign. We can never lose to the Blackhawks again. Every time we lose we get stuck in this elevator.” Olli lifted his cross to his lips and gave it a small kiss, as if he was trying to protect himself from the new superstition that had just formed in his head.

Timmy shook his head and tapped the notebook with a finger. “While I definitely agree to never letting the Blackhawks get a win again, it’s your turn Halla.” With a nod Olli took the notebook and flipped it to the back of the page they had just used to start a new game. After a few moments of thinking, he placed the spaces and set it in front of Timmy who smiled down at the page. There was yet another one of his favorite things about his close friend, the loopy handwriting that was fairly sloppy, but Timmy had learned how to decipher it long ago.

“Two words. 12 letters. Is it a challenging one for me?”

“No, you’ll probably get real quick.”

He was right about that. It only took Timmy four guesses to realize it was buffalo wings, which was one of the few American foods Olli was absolutely taken with. They spent quite a bit of time playing and joking around about their word choices. Jumanji, Licorice, Moody’s Leg, Cinnamon Bun, Drop The Bass, Meatballs, and Chrysanthemums. It was back to Olli’s turn who seemed to be on a theme.

“Okay, I get that you’re hungry Olls, but making every word I have to guess food isn’t helping either of us.” Whenever they got out of there Timmy would be getting room service after hearing the many things Olli wanted to consume now of all times.

“Alright. Alright Timms, this one won’t be food. Hand to God.” Olli raised his right hand with a smile and then looked at the paper for a minute. He was serious about the word he was considering, Timmy could tell by the way he pursed his lips before rubbing his hand over them again. Finally he marked the spaces he needed and put down the notebook in front of them. It was only five letters, so it couldn’t be too difficult. 

“A?” The last letter. “E.” The head was drawn. “I.” The body was drawn. “O.” The second letter. Timmy thought about what it could be for a moment and couldn’t figure it out so he went for common consonants. “S.” The left arm was drawn. “T.” The right arm.” “R?” The left leg. “L?” The right leg. All that was left was the rope.

“Do you need a hint?” Olli was fiddling with the strap of his messenger bag and not looking up at all as he spoke. It made Timmy a little nervous about what the word was.

“Yeah, I think I do.”

“Do you remember that Flyers game last year? We all got drunk at the hotel bar.”

Timmy nodded. He definitely remembered that night in full detail from the shirt Olli was wearing (powder blue dress with metallic buttons) to the way the hotel room pillows smelled (mostly like lilacs with little hints of lemon). They had gotten so wasted Timmy had to help a very clumsy Olli back up to his room since Elias wasn’t ready to go to bed and he still wasn’t sure if Olli even remembered that night.

He waited for Olli to say more, but apparently that was the hint. So he thought about them getting drunk at the bar. The low lighting on Olli's skin, the way he laughed when he was tipsy, and how his lips looked around a shot glass… 

“Vodka? Is that the word?”

“Do you remember helping me to my room?”

“Yeah, you could barely walk without falling into something. I almost had to carry you. Olls, is the word vodka?”

Olli finally looked him in the eye, his eyes were wide and wondering as he chewed on his lip in that worrying way. Those baby blues that made Timmy feel like he was floating in a pool of water when he stared into them and those lips he’s wanted to kiss ever since Olli showed up to his apartment to move in five years ago.

“Do you remember tucking me in?”

“Yes.” He swallowed hard with that one because it made Timmy think Olli definitely remembered that night more than he had assumed. If he remembered being tucked in, then he probably remembered Timmy accidentally dropping him so hard onto the bed he nearly bounced off. Then, helping him sit up to get his shirt off followed by his shoes and when he went to undo his pants button Olli wrapped his arms around him nearly pulling him into bed on top of him. 

There was a moment after that. A moment Timmy tried to forget. He was unsure Olli even remembered what he had said to Timmy and he had hoped that he didn’t remember how Timmy replied. Once it was over he’d tucked Olli in and they exchanged seven words between the two of them. 19 letters.

“Do you remember when I asked you to-” Olli was interrupted by the sound of the doors opening, but the two didn’t look in that direction right away. They stared at one another as if they were searching for the last words of that question or any possible answers to the many other unspoken questions. There were no spaces to count or hints to be given here though.

It took another 20 minutes or so for them to get the doors completely open and the two of them safely out. By the time they were out they were both exhausted and withdrawn from the whole experience. They reached Timmy’s door first and Olli was already turning to head to his own as he waved goodbye over his shoulder. 

“Goodnight Timms.”

“Olls, wait. Hold up.” Timmy rushed over to him and reached out to take one of his hands in his own so he could turn him a little. Once they were facing each other he saw Olli’s eyes were bright and he was chewing his lip with worry like he often did. “I remember. I remember what you said and I remember what I said and… I hope that someday things are different.”

Olli looked somehow both crushed and so hopeful it made Timmy’s eyes a little brighter as well. He sniffled a bit and Olli squeezed his hand. “I love you.”

Déjà vu. “I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Finnish Translations  
> Oi paska-Oh shit  
> Paska-Shit  
> Helvetin kuustoista-Hell's 16  
> Skeida-Shit but Helsinki style  
> äiti-mom  
> mami-mom as well but more what he calls her  
> Paskan marjat-Shit berries
> 
> Shout outs  
> Witterprompts on tumblr is a rad prompt blog
> 
> Then these were my awesome beta readers  
> @opaleyedragon on tumblr and bblgumbby on AO3  
> @bkfstclubmember on both tumblr and AO3  
> Werewolves_are_friends_not_fiends on AO3
> 
> Thanks to everyone who supports all my shipping nonsense and random HCs


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